Welcome to Truth Time, where you'll get a shot of the truth with no chaser. And now
your Truth Time host, Trey Searcy.
Turn, if you will, to 1 Corinthians chapter 13, verses 8 to 10. We're looking at verses
8 to 10 of 1 Corinthians chapter 13. Starting with verse 8, charity never faileth, but whether
there be prophecies, they shall fail. Whether there be tongues, they shall cease. Whether
there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part,
but when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
It is not talking about Jesus, as some like to say. They want to act as if it's talking
about Jesus so they can keep on doing these things that the verse is talking about, these
things that have already ended.
Nowhere in Scripture is Jesus ever referred to as a that. So to suddenly, out of nowhere,
come to this verse and say Paul is referring to Jesus would certainly be a huge leap. That
borders on resting the Scriptures, something you don't want to do.
Now today, we'll see how that this verse is actually referring to the Apostle Paul's revelation
of the mystery. When we read, "...that which is perfect has come...,: we're reading about Paul's
Romans 16:25 revelation of the mystery. It was this revelation that brought about the
completion of supernatural communication between God and man.
And it's why verse 8 says, whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. The giving
of knowledge by way of a personal meeting or a conversation with the Lord vanished away.
And it did so after Paul received his final revelation from the Lord.
So, the scammers of today who say that they've spoken with Jesus, well, we know that's a
lie. Let's be frank and call it as it is. We no longer have the need to have a personal
encounter with God appearing to us through visions, a still, small voice, dreams, bedside
angels or by any other means to tell us anything. We've already been told. We have it in finished
written form and we've been throughly furnished now. Throughly furnished and equipped for
all good works. As far as the Word goes, we're lacking nothing.
For that which is perfect, 1 Corinthians 13:8 has come. Praise God. Like a sign I once
saw at the dentist office, ignore your teeth and they'll go away.
Let's stop ignoring this truth and give careful attention to what God has for us in His Word.
That's where the emphasis should be. Educate ourselves and stop celebrating our ignorance.
There's a correlation between 1 Corinthians 13 verses 8-12 and Ephesians chapter 4 verses 11-15.
Follow along here and you'll see it. Watch this. Verse 11. Ephesians 4 verse 11.
And He gave some, watch it now, He gave. That's a gifting. There was a gifting happening.
He gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers. I
know we have some today that think they're God's gift to mankind and they separate themselves
from others, claiming a special calling. So call yourself what you want, but you're a
product, a result of studying, not gifting. A product of the Word as it works effectually
in you. Something that comes from Bible study. Now let's move on.
Verse 12 and 13 explains,
now here we are, we're in Ephesians chapter 4 and we're demonstrating the connection between
what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians chapter 13 verses 8-12 to what he wrote in Ephesians
chapter 4 verses 11-15. Okay, please notice here, Ephesians 4, how that verses 12 and
13 explains the function of the verse 11 gifting. And we see a very important timeline. Watch
this. For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying
of the body of Christ, verse 13, here's the timeline, till, see that? In verse 11, He
gave. Till. Till denotes an ending. The time which the giving, the gifting
ended. Now, with that in place, let's read it again. Watch how this ties together. Ephesians
4:13, till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God
unto a perfect man unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Perfect.
See that? Complete. Mature. Full grown. This doesn't speak of perfect behavior, sinless.
No, this speaks of perfect understanding.
What does Paul say in 2 Timothy 2:7? Consider
what I say and the Lord give the understanding in a few things until we get to heaven? We've
got to wait and find out in the sweet by and by? No. The Lord give thee understanding
2 Timothy 2:7 in all things. We have, not waiting for, but we have the full complete
perfect knowledge of the Son of God that brings us unto a perfect man unto the measure of
the stature of the fullness of Christ. And it's found written in your Bible, the revelation
of the mystery. We could not have been complete, brought into the full stature of the fullness
of Christ until that which is perfect had come. Paul's revelation of the mystery, Paul's
revelation of the mystery had to have been completely revealed. And it is. Colossians
1:25, I am made a minister according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for
you to, watch this, fulfill the word of God. Without the apostle Paul, the word of God
could not have been fulfilled. Paul's revelation fulfilled God's word, made it complete, made
it perfect, as mature as it's going to get.
Colossians 1:26, even the mystery which had
been hid from ages and from generations, but now, but now is made manifest to his saints.
Not before, but now, through Paul. See that? So here comes the Baptist, the Church of God, Church of God in Christ, Assemblies
of God, Methodist, Catholics, Episcopal, and on it goes. And they got you marching back
and forth, back and forth from Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
And you're left there still seeing through the glass darkly, never coming face to face
with truth. And there you stand having the understanding of a child, incomplete. Why?
Paul's gospel hadn't even begun yet. Those books are about another dispensation, another
people, and another plan. You can't come to the full unity of the faith. You can't have
full knowledge of the Son of God, become a perfect man unto the measure of the stature
of the fullness of Christ. Not going to happen. It can't happen until you consider what Paul
says and let the Lord give you understanding in all things. You'll never be able to, Ephesians
4:15, speak truth in love and grow up until you consider what the Lord told Paul about
you. But I digress.
So let's recap. Verse 11, he gave. There was a gifting. Verse 13,
we see the word til. That's our timeline. God was giving out supernatural gifts during
the time when Paul's revelation was still incomplete. But watch, watch when the change
came. Verse 13, til, til we all come in the unity of faith and of the knowledge of the
Son of God unto a perfect man unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
Til 1 Corinthians 13:10, when that which is perfect is come. And the perfect came.
The fullness of Paul's revelation came. So if you open up your Bible to 1 Corinthians
13, get it in one hand and get Ephesians 4 in the other. You can start with the word
knowledge and begin to connect the dots. Go back and forth, back and forth, and you'll
see how this all lines up. 1 Corinthians 13:8, charity never faileth, but prophecies shall
fail. Tongues shall cease. Knowledge shall vanish away. There's the word knowledge. Now,
has knowledge vanished away? No. Of course not. But God supernaturally giving knowledge
has. That's what this is talking about. He's not gifting anyone with knowledge today. And
it's why we're told to study.
Next time the TV preacher says, God told me, you say, no
he didn't. Supernatural signs and gifts will fail, cease and vanish away. When? Verse 10,
when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. The in
part is done away. When that which is perfect complete is come. Paul is saying, when I get
the perfect completed revealing of the mystery, the partial is done away. It was partial,
but now it's full. Partial knowledge was done away when the perfect knowledge came. So flip
back to Ephesians 4:12, and here again is that word, perfect, just like in 1 Corinthians
13, for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying
of the body of Christ. We have a match. There's the word, perfect. How was the saints perfected?
By Paul's completed revelation of the mystery. This all ties together. And watch again. 1
Corinthians 13:11, watch how it matches Ephesians 4, verses 14 and 15. Paul said, when I was
a child, I spake as a child, understood as a child, thought as a child, but when I became
a man, I put away childish things. Now that matches Ephesians 4:14. Listen closely. That
we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind
of doctrine by the slight of men and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive.
Verse 15, But speaking the truth in love may grow up. See the match? 1 Corinthians, he
said, I spake as a child, understood as a child, thought as a child. And in Ephesians,
he said, be no more children tossed to and fro. In 1 Corinthians, he said, when I became
a man, I put away childish things. And in Ephesians, he said, grow up. Seeing the correlation
helps us to gain some understanding. And the next verse, verse 12, 1 Corinthians 13:12,
says, for now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face. Now I know in part,
but then shall I know even as also I am known. And on a side note here, don't let anyone
fool you. When Paul says, then shall I know even also as I am known, that has nothing
to do with knowing friends and loved ones when you get to heaven. But when we put all
of this together, we see that when a child grows up, Ephesians 4:15, and puts away childish
things, the glass is no longer darkened. 1 Corinthians 13:12. We become Ephesians 4:14, no more children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine.
1 Corinthians 13, verses 8 to 12 almost mirrors Ephesians 4,11 through 15. And seeing this
helps to further our understanding. You only get two educations, the one you're given, and the one you give yourself.
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